1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to grab handles for vehicles and, more specifically, to a grab handle assembly for an interior of a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide a headliner for an interior of a motor vehicle. The headliner is typically made as a single piece and is mounted to an interior side of a roof of a vehicle body of the motor vehicle. An example of such a headliner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,458 to Patel. In this patent, the headliner includes a relatively stiff molded backing sheet and a relatively deformable foam panel adhesively secured to the undersurface of the backing sheet. Marginal edge areas of the foam panel in contact with hard side rails on the roof are provided with resilient deformable foam inserts that prevent the hard side rails from interfering with the energy absorption action of the foam panel.
It is also known to provide a handle for an interior side of a door of the motor vehicle. The handle includes a metal insert of a sufficient strength to sustain the loads that can be applied when closing the door. The handle also includes a molded body disposed over the metal insert.
It is desirable to provide a roof/pillar grab handle for an interior of a motor vehicle that has energy absorbing capacity if impacted by an occupant of the motor vehicle. It is further desirable to provide a grab handle that offers head impact energy absorption. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a grab handle assembly for a motor vehicle that meets these desires.
Accordingly, the present invention is a grab handle assembly for an interior of a motor vehicle. The grab handle assembly includes a headliner disposed in the interior of the motor vehicle for mounting to a vehicle body of the motor vehicle. The headliner has a recess. The grab handle assembly also includes a grab handle disposed in the recess and spaced from the vehicle body to absorb energy when impacted by an occupant in the interior of the motor vehicle.
One advantage of the present invention is that a grab handle assembly is provided for a motor vehicle that offers head impact energy absorption. Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the grab handle assembly has energy absorbing capacity for meeting requirements of an upper interior head impact. Still another advantage of the present invention is that the grab handle assembly is used for interior headform impact energy absorption for a roof/pillar of the motor vehicle.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated, as the same becomes better understood, after reading the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.